Major retailers and trade groups are opposing a proposed Visa-Mastercard antitrust settlement over interchange, or “swipe,” fees, PYMNTS reported, citing Bloomberg. At an April 27 federal court hearing, groups representing merchants including Walmart told U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan that they oppose the settlement and would rather continue litigating than accept the current terms. Cogan did not rule from the bench and said he would issue a written decision.
The proposed agreement would require Visa and Mastercard to reduce interchange fees by 0.1 percentage points for five years. It would also allow merchants to reject certain higher-cost card categories, including commercial cards and premium rewards cards, while continuing to accept standard consumer cards. The settlement has been projected to save merchants more than $200 billion over eight years, but retail groups argue the terms do not go far enough to address the fee-setting structure at the center of the dispute.
The court fight comes as interchange fees face additional legal and regulatory scrutiny. In Illinois, banking groups and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have objected to a state law set to take effect July 1 that would bar interchange fees on portions of transactions tied to taxes and tips. The OCC has argued that state-level fee restrictions interfere with national bank powers.
If the Illinois law is upheld, financial institutions may need to adjust payment systems to account for state-specific fee calculations. The dispute adds another layer to the broader legal fight over who controls interchange costs, how far states can go in regulating card fees, and whether the Visa-Mastercard settlement will resolve merchant objections after nearly two decades of litigation.
